People the world over have not recovered from the devastating triple-train accident shock. A staggering 288 are dead for sure. The many gravely injured ones are battling for life. The statistics are too well-known.
Most sadly, it occurred in the State of Odisha where the invincible Naveen Patnaik has been ruling for nearly 24 years without losing one election for the people-centric works he has been doing. Naveen has gained the rare reputation of crushing all erring, nonperforming and unethical politicians ever since he was made the boss of BJD he cofounded with several others. He cannot be held responsible for the gravest accident on any count. He can only be praised for the prompt response of his people and the trained rescue team built with utmost care.
The Union Government manages and controls the railways in totality. Coincidentally, the incumbent Railway Minister is a BJP MP who made it to the Rajya Sabha with critical support from the BJD. Naveen recognised AshwiniVaishnaw as an achiever par excellence in several fields including engineering, top bureaucracy, corporate governance and social work. Naveen never hesitated to dispatch him from the State despite bitter battles are constantly on between the BJP and BJD front-liners in Odisha. Vaishnaw is a top-grade IITian who made into the IAS to serve for only a few years to join the corporate world as a biggie for his ingenious knowledge and skills in solving all kinds of problems.
June 2 evening rendered most Indians speechless due to shock as the news of the terrible train accident in north Odisha reached them and that happened most unexpectedly just as the post-sunset dark had set in. One speeding train was diverted on the wrong tracks to hit a waiting goods train on the loop line and got derailed sideways so violently as to skid and hit the tail-end of another express train rushing from the opposite direction at high speed. As survivors were screaming for help from the wreckage, locals from the nearby station bazaar, as messiah, rushed with the dim mobile torch lights to make rescue history. They have proven that humanity is still existent and unbelievably so. The State help too reached soon. The renowned Odisha disaster management team has done wonders as always.
The whole two nights and days following were moments of grave anxiety and fear as rescuing people from under the heavy metal wreckage was Herculean task. The Railway Minister had arrived there without losing one moment. Naveen Patnaik too had reached the spot and ensured his team was not lax or casual on any front of the rescue operation. Prime Minister Modi too landed there dropping all other engagements. Most sensible politicians rushed in there to monitor the rescue work only to save maximum number of lives. Naveen's team did commendable job. Modi's visit boosted the spirit of all who were engaged in saving lives. Blood donors came from all domains including women groups and poor communities. Show of human compassion was at its ‘touching' best.
After the shock subsided a little, expert comments and remarks started flowing out. They talked of machine failure, human error and also sabotage. But until now, nothing much has come clear. Some fellows also spread the rumour that the loco pilots were careless and had slept off, which is ruled out wholly as unlike any other vehicle, the train drivers have absolutely no control over the path they would take. They can only start and stop the engine, speed up and bring the trains to halt by applying brakes. Pathways are set by control rooms at all stations, whether a stopover one or pass-by. The little station is a nondescript passenger halt called ‘Bahanaga' between Baleswar and Soro stations. High-speed express trains pass by at the usual permitted speeds. Like every other station in India, Bahanaga too has a fully-equipped control room with best failsafe modern gadgets like in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow or Pune to be equally capable of setting the tracks right and flashing the right signal. The latest safety gadgets are so sensitive as to guide even dullest minds to wake up to the real-time situations and take steps in case of an emergency. If there is any mechanical failure despite right command or electronic mess-up by some confusion, all signals would automatically go ‘red' thereby forcing trains to stop. This did not happen for the ill-fated Coromandel Express that was given green signal for the main tracks but the interlocking system had made it for the loop line at a curvature. No one knows until now how the supposedly failsafe system did not raise alarm or turn all signals red. The CBI is now put on the job. But the agency does not look fit for a perfect probe which can be best performed by high class railway engineers who lay tracks and install safety devices. The CBI is essentially equipped to crack human crime mysteries. At the most, they may be able only to look for the sabotage angle.
Now, there is a heartrending thing to share: As the whole world was in a state of shock and countless people including Railway Minister Vaishnaw were having sleepless as well as foodless hours day and night, some BJD brutes packed bags for a fun time in Singapore to celebrate a direct flight service commencing a day after the horrific accident. On June 3 evening or so, Minister Rohit Pujari, Mayors of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar Subash Singh and Sulochana Das, respectively, and most hurting the accident constituency MLA of Soro Parsuram Dhada flew off for merrymaking at a glamorous hotel in Singapore, particularly when Naveen Patnaik had declared State Mourning on that day. Equally shockingly, three MLAs of Bhubaneswar, one Minister among them, also had dared shamelessly to attend a Bollywood musical show when the whole country was in tears. The black sheep team comprised Minister Ashok Panda, legislators Ananta Jena and Sushant Rout.
The social media is roasting these brutish creatures like never before. Obviously, they have not sought Naveen's permission to fly away to Singapore to have some fun time when the rest of the country was mourning the death of so many people in the deadliest train accident. The other three shameless creatures may have imagined that they would not be marked as heartless rogues if seen by the crowd at the Bollywood event in Bhubaneswar.
Naveen Patnaik better have these black sheep dismissed for all times before there is State-wide uproar against his most-adored party.
